(05-14-2020 08:31 AM)BigIslandBuc Wrote:  Coach Shay was on the radio this morning. He was much more at ease speaking conversationally than when he is in a public environment, answering questions with an easy manner and laughing at times, even at himself.

-When asked how recruiting was going in these times, Coach Shay said that it was a challenge obviously but teams are in the dead period anyway, extended now to June 30th. The thing that he said had been missed was the live period in April when they would have been evaluating this coming seasons high school juniors and seniors. There is still recruiting going on among players, parents and coaches, but it is all phone calls.

-When asked about his contacts with the current roster and commits for the coming season, Shay said that he is in contact with them every day through "facetime," calls and texts. He says that he feels that things are "great" and that things are "fairly the same" as far as the players commitment to return. Some players have asked him when they could likely return to school and he has had to tell them that he doesn't know yet.

-When asked directly about the players that have entered the transfer portal, though neither he nor the commentators would say their names, Shay said that he has tried to explain to them why it would be in their interest to return, how their talent would help the team and the ways in which he plans to play somewhat differently in the coming season.

-When asked in general what he thought about the transfer portal, Coach said that its just the world we live in now. He thinks the large number of transfers is caused largely by players and coaches not doing their research prior to recruitment (thank you, NCAA).

-When asked what coaching actually amounted to now at the moment with all of the restrictions, Shay said that one of the largest issues was workouts. He mainly is confined to asking players what kinds of workout equipment is available and see if they are running, doing push ups, etc. Obviously, ETSU needs to hire a strength and conditioning coach and the coach who went with Forbes has him with a list of possible replacements.

-Coach Shay said that one of his biggest concerns in the last few weeks was in making sure that the current roster finished "strong" academically.

-When asked how he was progressing on completing his staff, Coach Shay said that he had been in a lot of conversations to fill the 2nd assistant coaching position and would probably have that done in a couple of days. The 3rd position would wait until after that to be filled. He wanted to get the hire right as he has always felt that part of the Bucs' "championship mind set" came from a coaching staff with a powerful bond without any jealousy, not worrying about who got the credit for a game plan or a recruitment.

-When asked if working with Forbes at NW Florida had helped him, Shay said that recruiting at a JUCO had taught him a lot about evaluating players, especially with the constant 2 year turnover. He had also developed a lot of contacts while there.

-When asked if he really thought that this years team could have won a game or two in the tournament, he said that he did as this team reminded him of the UW-Milwaukee team that he helped coach that won 2 games in the tournament.

-When asked if he thought there would be a game with Wake Forest any time soon, Coach Shay said with a small laugh that he didn't think they were ready to play ETSU right now. He aid there hadn't been any discussion about that at this time, but maybe later.

-When asked about the upcoming schedule, Coach said that it was nearly done with a few more games to set, but that it was farther along that usual at this time of year.